French high-speed train sets world record

Humphrey Cheung, 3rd April 2007

Paris (France) - A prototype French TGV train set a world speed record for wheeled trains today. The train sped 357 miles per hour or 574.8 km/hour on a test track from Paris to Strasbourg. This speed is nearly 12 percent faster than the previous record, also held by a French train.

The test train is code-named V150 because it can travel 150 meters per second. Using two 25,000 horsepower engines, the three car train took about 16 minutes to reach top speed. While the V150 broke the traditional train speed record, Japan’s Maglev train still has the record for all trains. In 2003, the magnetically levitated Japanese train reached 361 miles per hour or 581 km/hour.

In addition to the dual engines, the V150 has larger wheels than previous generations of trains.